Szechuanosaurus
Extinct genus of dinosaurs / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Szechuanosaurus ("Szechuan lizard") is an extinct genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. Fossils referred to the genus have been found in China, Asia in the Oxfordian-?Tithonian (Peng et al., 2005).[1] Its type species is based on several undiagnostic teeth from the Kuangyuan Series.[2][3] Additional possible specimens of Szechuanosaurus were also reported from the Kalaza Formation,[4] also located in China.
Szechuanosaurus | |
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Illustration of a partial tooth | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | Neotheropoda |
Genus: | †Szechuanosaurus Young, 1942 |
Type species | |
†Szechuanosaurus campi Young, 1942 |
Szechuanosaurus is at times regarded as a nomen dubium[5][6] due to the lack of diagnostic features in the fossilized teeth upon which the genus is based.[7] Although the fossils are too fragmentary for confident identification, Szechuanosaurus is often interpreted as a medium-sized allosaurid[8] or perhaps a metriacanthosaurid,[6] capable of reaching lengths of around 7.3 meters.[6]